Shipping-cover for vehicle-shafts.



No. 650,457. Patented May 29, 1900.

C. EHLEN.

SHIPPING COVER FOR VEHICLE SHAFTS.

(Application filed Apr. 30, 1897.)

UNITED STATEs-PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES EHLEN, or CINCINNATI, onto.

SHIPPING-COVER FOR VEHlC LE-SHAF TS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 650,457, dated May 29,1900.

Application filed Aprl130,1897.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, CHARLES EHLEN, a citi= zen of the United States, anda resident of Cincinnati, Hamilton county, State of Ohio, have inventeda certain new and useful Shipping-Cover for Vehicle-Shafts; and I dodeclare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of theinvention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which itappertains to make and use the same, attention being called to theaccompanying drawings, with the-reference-numerals marked thereon, whichform a part of this specification.

The object of this invention is to provide means to protect shafts ofvehicles-such as buggies,surreys, phaetons, &c.against dust, rain,defacement, and other injurious influences to which they are exposed andsubjected during transportation when shipped from the factories tobuyers. At present these shafts where they are protected at all arecovered by a strip of paper wrapped spirally around-them and held bytwine, asshown in Figure 11 of the drawings. Shafts are often shippedbefore the varnish has completely set, and when wrapped in the aforesaidmanner the paper which tightly incloses them leaves marks in the softvarnish and frequently adheres to the shaft. It also requiresconsiderable time to wrap shafts in this manner, and much paper andtwine are unnecessarily wasted by reason of the strip continuallyoverlapping itself as it proceeds around the shafts. My aim is thereforeto provide a wrapper which requires no more material than absolutelynecessary to cover actual shaft-surfaces and of the most inexpensivematerial obtainable, thereby attaining the desirable feature ofcheapness, which is quite an item considering the short useful life ofsuch covers and the great numbers required, since they are not intendedto be preserved or returned. Muslin and so=called cheeseclot-h, alsocheap materials, have sometimes been used in place of paper; but sinceany such materials adhere much more freely than paper they arealtogether objectionable, and therefore I retain paper as to material,since it is cheaper and also devoid of the lastnamed objection. Next tocheapness I have attained capacity of quickly placing the cov Serial No.631 56l- (N0 inodelil ering, which as compared with the present methodof wrapping requires but an instant.

In the following specification and particularlypointed out in the claimsis found a full description of the invention, its manner of use, parts,and construction, which latter is also illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, in which' Figs. 1 and 2 show two covers, one slightly modifiedas to construction. Fig. 3 shows a side elevation of a suitable vehicleshaft with a cover stripped on, but not finally secured. Fig. 4 is aperspective view of a pair of shafts, the upper one being the one shownin the preceding figure, but with the placing of the covering completed,the lower one showingin dotted lines a modified manner of inclosing thesame by sectional covers. Fig. 5 shows the blank sheet out of which acover is constructed. Fig. 6 shows a sheet of paper out of which twosuch blanks are formed without any waste of material. Figs. 7 and 8 showin cross-sections of the covers shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively,different ways of forming the joint. Fig. 9 shows asectional cover. Fig.10 shows a wrapping-sheet to cover the cross-bar 18, and Fig. 11 shows apiece of shaft and the present method of wrapping the same.

In Fig. 6 a sheet of paper is shown of a size to form two blanks, one ofwhich is shown in Fig. 5, and from which two covers may be constructed.Roll-paper of proper width may beused to advantage, from which thesesheets 6 are cut in required lengths. They are next divided on aninclined line, (indicated at 14,) thus forming two blanks 15, as shownin Fig. 5. Such a blank is next folded on a line 16, so as to bring theouter longitudinal edges 17 together, which are joined and form then atubular tapering cover, as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. Figs. 1 and 7 and 2and 8 show different methods of joining. In the first case the edgesoverlap each other and in the other case they lie simply against eachother.

One of the dimc'ulties to be contended with in the packing of shafts isthe cross-bar 18,

which connects them near their rear ends.

This difficulty I overcome in two ways, of which one is to leave thecovers partly open from their wider end, as shown at 19 inFigs.

' cured with twine.

other way is by forming them in two sections, one for the longer part infront of the crossbar l8 and one for the shorter part back of the same.formed by cutting a longer one in two, as on a line 20, (shown in Fig.2,) with the exception, however, that the side seam of the shorter partis completely closed, as shown in Fig. 9. To prevent the covers fromtearing at the inner end of this open part 19, a gusset 21 may beprovided thereat. 4

The application is readily understood. The covers are stripped on overthe thin end of the shafts, as shown in Fig. 3, and finally secured withtwine, as shown in Fig. 4, whereby also the open part is closed around.the shaft. If the sectional covers are used, as shown in dotted lines inFig. 4, one section is stripped on from one end of the shaft and theother from the other end. The placing of the covers in this mannerrequires but an instant as compared with the old method of wrapping.Cross-bar 18 is readily covered with a short rectangular sheet of paper22, as shown in Fig. 10, wrapped around it and se- It will be observedthat in this manner of packing the covers do not lie as close againstthe shafts as if wrapped under the old method shown in Fig. 11, andtherefore marring and defacing of finished Such acover would be'simply 1and 2 and as applied in Figs. 3 and 4. The surfaces by the coverandadherence thereto are prevented, while their efficiency as to protectionis in no way diminished.

As to the material, various grades of paper may be selected from, suchselections to be solely governed by the limits of expense it isdesirable to incur. Paper more or less waterproof may be foundpreferable in' most cases. For shipping and storage the length of thesecovers may be reduced by folding to any suitable degree, therebypermitting them to be packed in bundles of convenient size.

Having described my invention, I claim as llew- 1. The tubularshipping-cover for vehicleshafts constructed of paper andformed of asize to readily admit the shafts when stripped over them and lengthwisepartly open from one end, as shown at 19 for the purpose described. I

2. A shippingoover for vehicle-shafts, in form of a tapering paper tubeof a size to readily admit the shafts when stripped over them andlengthwise partly open from its wider end asshown at 19 for the purposedescribed.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affix my signature in presence of twowitnesses.

CHARLES EHLEN.

\Vitnesscs:

O. SPENGEL, ARTHUR KLINE.

